Privacy Policy
CopyStory keeps your clipboard history and saved prompts on your Mac. This policy explains what the app stores, the controls you have, and what happens when you visit our website or contact us.
- The Mac app does not upload your clipboard history or Library to us, use advertising or analytics SDKs, or require an account.
- History persists on your Mac until you delete it or your storage and expiration settings remove it.
- Saved content is not encrypted by CopyStory. Pause recording before copying sensitive information.
Who is responsible
CopyStory is developed by Francisco Gramajo of OK To Great Web Studio ("we," "us"). This policy covers the current Mac App Store/TestFlight version and this website. It does not describe older direct-download versions with a separate updater.
What the app stores and why
After you finish onboarding, CopyStory observes changes to the system clipboard while it is running and recording is enabled. It stores supported copied text and images so you can search and reuse them. It also stores capture times, available source-app names and identifiers, image dimensions and thumbnails, and whether an item is pinned. Source-app attribution is best effort.
The Library stores the prompt templates you choose to save, including titles, text, variable defaults, options, favorites, and timestamps. Values filled in while using a prompt are not automatically saved as new template defaults. Completed prompts can enter History when copied or pasted while recording is active.
History and Library are stored in the app’s local Application Support storage; preferences are stored locally by macOS. You can locate the content through Preferences → About CopyStory → Open storage folder. The app does not synchronize these stores to a server, send them to an AI provider, or run copied text as commands. Pasting content into another app makes it available to that app under its own privacy practices.
Recording, permissions, and your choices
- Pause or quit: choose Pause recording to stop new capture, or quit CopyStory. Recording is suspended when the Mac is locked or asleep. Pausing does not erase saved items.
- Exclude apps: use Preferences → Privacy & permissions → Exclude app. Apple Passwords is excluded by default. Exclusions use the app observed at capture time; they are not a guarantee that every sensitive copy will be recognized.
- Confidential markers: CopyStory respects supported confidential clipboard markers by default. This depends on the source app marking its content. Ordinary copied passwords, private messages, keys, and other unmarked secrets may be recorded.
- Clipboard access: macOS controls permission to read content copied from other apps. You can change it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Paste from Other Apps.
- Direct Paste: this optional feature starts off. If enabled, it uses macOS event-posting permission to request a standard paste into the destination app. It observes the destination application and focus-related state for that request; it does not read the destination’s documents or text fields. You can disable Direct Paste in Preferences or revoke its macOS permission. Copy and manual paste remain available.
- Launch at login: this is optional and can be disabled in CopyStory or macOS Login Items.
Retention and deletion
The initial History limits are 1,000 items and 500 MB. When a limit is reached, the oldest unpinned items are removed first. Pins count toward the limits but are protected from automatic removal; if pinned items fill capacity, new items may not be saved.
Time-based expiration is off by default. In Preferences → History storage, you can apply expiration after 1, 7, 30, or 90 days. It uses the most recent capture time and removes unpinned items while CopyStory is running or at its next launch. Pinned items do not expire. Library entries remain until you delete them and do not count toward History’s limits.
- Delete an individual History item from its context menu.
- Choose Clear unpinned… to keep pins, or Clear all history… in Preferences to include them.
- Delete saved prompts separately in Library. Clearing History leaves Library intact; deleting a prompt does not remove copies already saved in History.
Deleting an image removes its stored payload and thumbnail with the History record. Deletion does not clear the current system clipboard, remove content already pasted elsewhere, or erase backups and filesystem snapshots. It is not secure erasure. Quitting or uninstalling the app should not be used as a substitute for deleting its saved data first. We cannot remotely access or erase the local History or Library on your Mac.
Local storage and security
CopyStory uses the macOS app sandbox and restricts its storage files to the current user. It does not add application-level encryption. Access to your Mac account, device, or backups can expose saved content. macOS protections such as FileVault and your backup settings are separate from CopyStory. No storage system can guarantee absolute security.
Apple services and diagnostics
App distribution and updates are handled by Apple through the App Store or TestFlight. CopyStory does not include a separate updater or third-party analytics SDK in this version. Apple may provide crash and usage reports according to your sharing choices; TestFlight testing automatically shares crash and usage information and can include your name, email, and submitted feedback. We use reports made available to us to diagnose problems and improve CopyStory.
See Apple’s Privacy Policy and TestFlight & Privacy for Apple’s processing and controls. Review any feedback attachments before sending them.
Website visits and support messages
This website is hosted through OpenAI’s ChatGPT Sites with Cloudflare infrastructure. Visiting it sends standard connection information, such as your IP address, browser information, requested URL, and request time, to the hosting providers to deliver and protect the site. Hosting and security logs may also be available to us for troubleshooting. Their processing, retention, and international transfers are described in the OpenAI Privacy Policy and Cloudflare Privacy Policy.
Our website code does not add advertising trackers or analytics, use cookies or local storage, access your clipboard, or require a CopyStory account. Hosting providers may use their own technologies to operate and secure the service. The on-page demonstration uses sample content.
If you email us, we receive your email address and the message and attachments you choose to send. Our email provider processes these communications to deliver them. We use them to answer requests, troubleshoot issues, and maintain necessary support records—not for advertising. Please do not send passwords, keys, your History database, or private clipboard content.
We keep support correspondence and diagnostic information available to us only as long as reasonably needed to handle the request, investigate problems, and meet applicable legal obligations. Provider-managed records follow the providers’ retention policies. You can request deletion of information you have sent us using the contact below.
Sharing and privacy requests
We do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising. We use service providers for hosting, security, email, and Apple distribution as described above, and may disclose information when legally required or necessary to protect the service and people’s rights. The app does not send your local clipboard or Library content to these providers.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of personal information we hold, or to object to or restrict certain processing. Contact us to make a request or raise a concern. We may need enough information to verify and locate your request. Local app content is managed using the deletion controls above; we do not hold a server copy. Where applicable, you may also raise a complaint with your data protection authority.
Changes to this policy
We will update this page and its effective date when our practices change. If a change requires notice or consent, we will provide it as required. A future feature will not silently change the practices described here.
Contact
For privacy questions or requests, email francisco@fromokaytogreat.com. For help with the app, visit CopyStory Support.
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